This may be a daft question, but are hollow beads much weaker than normal beads?
And are they made by two disks eased towards each other?
Thanks
Steph X
check them out on youtube.
as for strength, I would imagine they are more fragile, being thinner, but I've never dropped one on my tile floor so couldn't say for certain :)
yup they are made with 2 disks which you join
in theory they are stronger than regular beads as if you drop them there is a little "give" which they can take and they bounce more
Quote from: Stones of Fire (littlegiggles) on January 14, 2009, 10:23:34 AM
yup they are made with 2 disks which you join
By slowly bringing the wraps closer to the middle each turn of the bead until finally they meet. The whole lot will look straggly at first but continue to heat so that the glass smoothes out and the air trapped in the bead expands due to the heat. Some people make two disc beads close together, say 1/4 inch and carefully push the outer rims of the discs closer till they meet.
I like making hollow beads but it can be a bit tricky ( sometimes mine turn into really weird monsters!!), but keep at it its well worth it, I cannot remember who demonstrated it at last year's flame off but they made it look dead easy!!!!!!!!
Quote from: Hels4444 on January 14, 2009, 11:33:59 AM
I cannot remember who demonstrated it at last year's flame off but they made it look dead easy!!!!!!!!
Ray Skene I think :)
Ha Ha, I just made my first one about half an hour ago, so haven't got it off the mandrel yet, eek... The first attempt didn't work, because the bead release cracked - there's more strain on it I guess cos you work with thin disks and by the time they are bigger you are putting a lot of pressure on the centre as you turn if you're not careful.
There was a tutorial in this or last month's Beads and Beyond actually. PM me if you like, I might know where you could get a copy....
There might be something on here too but I haven't had a look..
Mike Poole demonstrated Hollows last year - made it look dead easy and decorated it in fab bumpy dots.
He does really nice ones.
He also does them in opaque colours which I thought was a bit strange when I first saw them, opaque? so you can't see that they're hollow? But they're much lighter than a solid bead that size which for me putting round my neck is a big plus. They're also easier to make, so for your first one try with an opaque colour, you'll be able to see the holes in the discs and joining bit, this makes it easier to plug them. If there's any holes your bead won't inflate, you'll just get a claggy lump of glass. Not that that's a problem, the daughter of a friend went straight for the first 'hollow' I made (tried to make) saying it was her favorite bead.
I find it easier to start off with 2 small discs - then build up one till it meets the other - as demo'd by our very own Red Hot Sal on the Red Hot Minx course!
Quote from: Magpie on January 14, 2009, 01:36:05 PM
He also does them in opaque colours which I thought was a bit strange when I first saw them, opaque? so you can't see that they're hollow? But they're much lighter than a solid bead that size which for me putting round my neck is a big plus. They're also easier to make, so for your first one try with an opaque colour, you'll be able to see the holes in the discs and joining bit, this makes it easier to plug them.
That's a great tip - opaque glass melts quicker too so that might stop bits of glass pinging off as I go along. I tend to end up with a very dense hollow (iyswim) cos I've taken so much glass to plug the holes. I'm desperate to make a bead within a bead too so the thinner the wall the better (I think).
I make mine in a similar way to Sal's but, I make the second disk after I have built up the first and then join the two. The easiest transparent that I have found to use so far is CiM Larkspur, but be careful not to get it too hot as it can scum up. Once you have joined the sections and plugged the holes, it can take a while to melt everything into a nice rounded hollow...just keep it spinning! You can also make hollows by starting with a long thinly walled bead and building up discs at each end, then joining those. I find that this type of hollow a bit more difficult to make though!
I've had a few "isn't it heavy" comments on some glass bead necklaces I've made, so thought it might be a solution, will have to have a play!! Although goodness knows what they will turn out looking like :D
Quote from: TiaraHelen on January 14, 2009, 12:52:31 PM
There was a tutorial in this or last month's Beads and Beyond actually. PM me if you like, I might know where you could get a copy....
We get B&B here (Australia) intermittently, but I have ordered issues No.s 15, 16 and 17 so that I can hopefully see some of the fab beads in the competition. Is it in one of those?
Steph X
I started making hollows just before Christmas and it's the first technique I've taken to straight away without needing lots of PPP - I make two disks and then gradually add glass to bridge the gap.
I'm currently planning a bracelet with a load of them on that I wouldn't be able to make if they weren't hollow beads as it would end up waaaay too heavy!
I also find that because it's quicker to make bigger diameter beads, I've been able to make some big beauties! (well, I think they're beauties anyway ;D ). It means I get far more beads for my limited energy and I come down from the workshop feeling I've actually accomplished something :)
Dark Green transparents and Dark Blue transparents work well on hollows too - they seem to be stiff enough to build up the discs nicely and don't tend shock too easily. I use standard effetre colours for these and they work really well.
Lurrrrrve hollows ;D Especially decorated with dots!
I make the Mike Poole way. I make two little beads about three quarters of an inch apart and then build two biggish disks on them, alternating between the two and keeping both hot by flashing through the flame. When the disks are built up I heat the space between them constantly turning the mandrel and eventually they start to move towards each other and behave like a clam shell - when all joined up I get the whole bead fairly hot and try to balance as best as I can.
When all else fails I let it droop to the bottom, put a ridge in the top and turn it into a hollow heart!
I find with making the two little beads first, I get better ends than just going straight for disks!
Kaz
I'm still practising the 2 disc method - got a pair of those hollow mandrels with the little holes from Martin at the Brighton gem and bead fair :) These are my first tries - not perfect but thinking with some embellishment I have next years tree baubles ;D ;D
(http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k329/Blueflamebeads_photos/2009%20beads/XmasatTonis027.jpg)
(http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k329/Blueflamebeads_photos/2009%20beads/XmasatTonis026.jpg)
good hollows!
I have one of those mandrels too, but the one of the holes got blocked so I haven't used it for a while. I did find you need to keep the glass even before blowing - you end up with a wonky bead otherwise!
Yes As you can see mine aren't perfect so you still have to havean even thick hollow before blowing :)
Okay folks , what is the score with bead release when making these, I have been sort of ok so far but two attempts have had the release crack on me, why is this, am I applying too much pressure when decorating perhaps? Please advise, as I can only decorate so many potted plants with beads stuck on mandrels.......
Cheers
Kerensky
Is this when you're decorating a hollow or getting the 2 discs to join up?
If it's when getting the discs to join are you putting too much pressure on them and forcing them together before they're molten enough, this would cause them to move on the mandrel and crack the bead release (been there, done that, got the t-shirt, or at least the stuck beads :D)
If it's after you've made the hollow bead and are decorating it, I have no idea, unless you've got small cracks and not noticed while you've been making it and keeping it in the flame has caused it to get worse.
Helen
Thanks Helen, I think that it is a bit of both and I am not heating the glass up enough - when making the hollow and when decorating, I have been having a go at hollow fish and think I may have applied too much pressure when trying to shape the fins.
Thanks for the help
Kerensky
Quote from: SueP on January 15, 2009, 10:45:05 PM
I'm still practising the 2 disc method - got a pair of those hollow mandrels with the little holes from Martin at the Brighton gem and bead fair :) These are my first tries - not perfect but thinking with some embellishment I have next years tree baubles ;D ;D
(http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k329/Blueflamebeads_photos/2009%20beads/XmasatTonis027.jpg)
Nice hollows - I've got one of those mandrels with the holes in too! You can get really big hollows with these - great for tree decorations or larger focals!